The Ending Of Netflix's Leave The World Behind Explained
The Netflix original movie "Leave the World Behind" presents another apocalyptic vision for audiences to mull over. Based on the book of the same name by Rumaan Alam, the film focuses on Amanda (Julia Roberts), Clay (Ethan Hawke), and G.H. "George" (Mahershala Ali) as they try to help their children stay safe when an unexpected doomsday scenario plays out.
Amanda, Clay, and their two children — Archie (Charlie Evans) and Rose (Farrah Mackenzie) — are enjoying a vacation when strange things start happening. While they initially think the thing they witnessed was a random event, the arrival of father and daughter George and Ruth (Myha'la) in the middle of the night makes it clear something disastrous and more widespread is happening. As the group desperately searches for answers, the waters grow even murkier when more information comes to light.
Grab your survival bag and watch out for self-driving cars as we take you to an underground bunker and share everything you need to know about the ending of "Leave the World Behind."
What you need to remember about the plot of Leave the World Behind
While relaxing on the beach on their vacation, Amanda and her family notice a large ship in the distance. After a while, it gets much closer, seemingly coming right for them. As the ship heads for the shore, the beachgoers frantically scramble to get out of the way, the police evacuate the beach, and the family then holes up in their rental home trying to understand what just happened.
While they're processing this strange event, the owner of the rental, George, and his daughter, Ruth, appear claiming there's been a blackout in the city and asking to stay in the house. Things continue to get worse, with news alerts seemingly pointing to a cyber attack from hackers which is causing all forms of communication to fail. Subsequently, loud electronic-based noises keep sounding off. The two families aren't sure if they can trust each other, but find themselves somewhat trapped and forced to work together.
Things continue to grow more questionable as Archie and Rose begin to realize their parents aren't telling them what's going on. Herds of deer and flamingos appear in the woods outside the home, strange red papers drop from a drone, and vague radio broadcasts bring more questions than answers.
What happened at the end of Leave the World Behind
In search of answers, Clay and George go to Danny (Kevin Bacon), George's contractor who they believe can help Archie. The teen is ill, vomiting up blood and losing his teeth, but trying to get to a hospital isn't an option. After a stand-off that results in both Danny and George drawing guns, Clay gives the contractor $1,000 for a bottle of pills. The two fathers then decide to head to the underground bunker Danny tells them about.
Amanda and Ruth are in the woods searching for Rose who has gone missing. They follow some bicycle tracks to a dilapidated shed, only for Ruth to face a herd of deer ready to attack her. After using loud noises and frantic arm waving to scare the animals away, the two continue to search for Rose. A view of New York City through the trees stops them both in their tracks. Several explosions are moving through the city, and the faint sounds of gunfire and screaming can be heard in the distance.
Rose is at a table in the neighbor's house eating their food. Candy wrappers and drink containers clutter the space. As she explores the house further, she finds the underground bunker Clay and George are heading to. It's state-of-the-art, with an emergency alert system that informs the audience the country is under attack by "rogue forces." Rose finds a copy of the final season of "Friends" and sits down to finally watch the series finale.
Who is responsible for the cyber attack?
One of the biggest mysteries of the film is who is behind the attacks. There are snippets of reports, emergency alerts, Danny's conspiracy theories, and George's insider information, but we're still left with the fact that anyone could be responsible for the ongoing chaos around the country, and sometimes it is the not knowing that is truly frightening. We know that whatever is happening is likely connected to satellites due to GPS and other communication systems going down, and the repeated shots of Earth from space, but the "enemy" — if there is one — is unseen and unknown.
Many countries — including Iran and Korea — are thrown out as possible culprits for what the U.S. is experiencing, but still, it is inconclusive. This serves as a reminder that if something like this were to happen in real life, we may not know who is responsible initially. This only adds to the fear, as you don't know what technology is at their disposal or what could be coming next, and this creates further confusion among the masses — possibly even to the point of people turning against each other as George's monologue suggests.
This means the ending of the movie is very ambiguous, and audiences get to decide what set of presented information they put their trust in. Without a clear answer, "Leave the World Behind" forces viewers to assess the situation for themselves and make the call on what they think it means, creating a unique viewing experience for everyone watching.
What is wrong with Archie?
Archie is the only one physically impacted by the attacks, going from having a mild fever to losing his teeth in just a few hours. It isn't obvious why this is happening, but George is pretty sure his contractor can help.
Danny says the loud sonic noises going off are responsible for Archie's illness. The contractor says there were similar instances in Cuba. This is a reference to Havana syndrome, an ailment impacting United States and Canadian officials in Cuba starting in 2016. The common denominator for the syndrome is hearing a loud, piercing noise, similar to what is in "Leave the World Behind." The phenomenon has since occurred in several countries around the world.
The medicine Archie takes is questionable. There is no imprint code on the tablets, and we can't see the label on the bottle, meaning it could be anything. Based on Danny's views of the apocalypse, the pills are a metaphor for the off-label use of medications like Ivermectin during the COVID-19 pandemic. There doesn't appear to be proof that the medicine will prevent Archie's remaining teeth from falling out other than Danny's word, and we don't know how he knows this is a suitable treatment.
Ultimately, what's wrong with Archie and the help he receives points to a stereotype of a particular subset of people who both prep for and anticipate the arrival of an apocalyptic situation and the theories that go along with it.
What happened to George's wife?
In a deviation from the source material — where Ruth is George's wife — George and Ruth are a father-daughter duo in the movie. George's wife doesn't appear in the film, however, she is said to be on her way back from a trip. Her plane should arrive the morning after George and Ruth get to the vacation rental, but she never appears.
After George finds the evidence of a plane crash and witnesses another one, it becomes clear what happened to his wife, but he doesn't tell his daughter what he sees at first. He and his daughter barely acknowledge that there could be something wrong because admitting it means accepting that there's a chance they will not see a loved one again.
It's a defense mechanism that protects them. Getting caught up in grief won't help them figure out what to do next, especially because they have no way of knowing where her plane went down or if she ever made it onto one. Keeping their focus on what is in front of them and what they can change is the best course forward, even if it means not mourning their presumed dead wife and mother at that moment.
We are our own worst enemy
Toward the end of "Leave the World Behind," while Clay and George help Archie, George shares what the country could be going through. He explains that there are three phases to a country crumbling from the inside out: isolation through cutting communication, synchronized chaos like the misinformation of the red papers, and total collapse.
Even if another country or entity forces it to happen, we still become our own enemies. The goal is that we bring ourselves down through civil war and the ultimate collapse of our society. The notion of being our own enemy comes from German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who once wrote, "But the worst enemy you can meet will always be yourself; you lie in wait for yourself in caverns and forests" in his book "Thus Spake Zarathustra."
The philosophical argument directly applies here, especially if George's theory is correct. While they can try to blame someone else — as is particularly evident when they debate the origins of the red papers — they still end up being their own enemy. At the end of it all, it will be each other they have to fight over supplies with or learn to trust, not whoever started it.
We're on our own in a disaster
The idea of who you can and can't trust is explored heavily in "Leave the World Behind." Amanda immediately suspects there is something off about George and Ruth, questioning their identities and what George knows about the situation. Danny trusts no one despite knowing George for years.
Though the two families are technically working together to figure out what's happening around them, they ultimately have their own survival in mind. Amanda and Clay don't tell George and Ruth that they saw the oil tanker ground on the beach, and George doesn't share that his neighbors are gone. They're sharing a home and supplies, but neither family is forthcoming with information.
The film posits that at the end of the world, we are on our own. You have to be careful who you trust and let into your circle, and that's what is happening in "Leave the World Behind." Amanda is overly cautious due to her line of work, but that kind of caution becomes more common in difficult situations such as this. You have to put yourself and your family first, and that's all both groups are trying to do.
In situations where you lose control over key aspects of your life — like where you can live and where you can go — you grasp onto what control you have left. In this case, it's who you let into your life and who you trust. Maintaining some semblance of control provides comfort in an otherwise frightening time.
Rose is the only one to leave the world behind
As audiences begin to dissect "Leave the World Behind," one theory is clear: Rose is the only one who leaves the world behind and moves on. In a discussion on Reddit, u/MintClicker shares that "Rose was the only one who 'left the world behind' by escaping/detaching from reality and finding out what happened to Ross and Rachel" when she watches "Friends" in the bunker.
While her family and George and Ruth worry about the who, what, and how of it all, Rose is just enjoying her favorite show, finding solace in a difficult time. She is the only one who leaves what she knows of the world behind to enjoy something she does know. It's a poetic representation of escapism at its finest.
It isn't surprising that she's the only one to do it. She is the one who points out that there is something weird about how close the oil tanker is to the shore. She is also the one to initially notice there is something off about the local fauna, even when Archie writes her off. She is the one who searches for supplies and finds the bunker. Rose is the only one who catches on that there is something really bad happening and finds something to take comfort in. For her to be the only one that "escapes" makes sense and is well deserved.
What about that shed?
Viewers are particularly concerned about the dilapidated shed in the woods. First introduced when Archie and Rose find it, it becomes the space where deer almost attack Ruth and it keeps popping up in the background. Archie mentions that it looks like someone has been sleeping in it, based on an imprint in the leaves, and that the window lets someone see into one of the upstairs bedrooms of the rental house.
There are plenty of comments on Reddit asking if someone can explain the significance of the shed. Most seem to agree there isn't a direct significance to the building, while others admit that they thought it would be more important because of how often it appears in the movie.
Audiences don't agree when it comes to the shed. One commenter on a post on Reddit asks if it was "just a red herring." Another user on a different subreddit argues Archie makes up the idea of someone hiding out in the shed to scare Rose, in the typical way a big brother would with their younger sibling. That's not to say there couldn't be something more sinister afoot, but this isn't a question the movie answers.
What Julia Roberts has to say about the ending
Julia Roberts has thoughts on what the ending of "Leave the World Behind" means and if the others made it to the bunker with Rose. "I guess that's the wonderment, isn't it," the actress shared in an interview with Yahoo Entertainment UK. "It's funny because Sam [Esmail] and I have had many conversations about this, about what we wanted people to think at the end because we didn't want everyone left in this gutted pile of goo and collapse, but you also don't want to tie it up in a bow." Roberts also notes that what you think happens "shows if you're [an] optimist or a pessimist."
Sam Esmail, the writer and director of the movie, also shared his thoughts. "If you're asking my interpretation, I do think they make it to the bunker. Yes, that's what I would want so that's what I would imagine," Esmail said. He seems to agree with Roberts that because the ending forces you to choose what you think happens, it has the potential to be divisive.
Esmail acknowledges that audiences are used to having a clear answer in the media they watch, but that's what he likes about "Leave the World Behind" — you don't know if the characters will survive and you're left wondering and hoping that they do.
What the end of Leave the World Behind means for a sequel
With such an ambiguous ending, the field is wide open for a second movie. Though "Leave the World Behind" is based on a book with no sequel, there is plenty to explore if Netflix greenlights another film.
Audiences can find out who makes it to the bunker, how long they survive there, and if Archie's medicine helps him and prevents the rest of his teeth from falling out. We could also find answers to other questions, like who is responsible for the attacks and if they are happening all over the world or just in the United States. Like other apocalyptic movies with sequels, most notably "A Quiet Place," we could see how long society is in ruins and how people adapt to that over time.
However, a sequel providing answers defeats the purpose of "Leave the World Behind." You're meant to question what is happening and to decide for yourself based on the information you know, just like you might be forced to do if it were a real situation. By supplying those answers, the ending of the movie becomes void. While many viewers might prefer knowing, it may be better to preserve the ending and not have everything wrapped up in a sequel.